The residents whose temporary houses have not yet been built and are still living in the provisional settlement are very troubled. This is because the houses in the provisional settlement are basically all makeshift constructions, with no sense of beauty at all. Before, they felt that being able to live in such a place was already good enough, but when compared with the city center designed by the designers, the difference really is too big. It feels just like having several moles suddenly appear on a pretty young girl’s face. So unpleasant.
The temporary residents living in the provisional settlement, one by one, also want to achieve something. It’s said that this time it will affect the assessment for turning temporary residents into official residents, and it will count as assessment points. Moreover, living in such a city has indeed greatly improved their happiness. If simply sprucing up the surroundings a bit can make a difference, they are very willing to contribute their share of effort to the city.
When He Fang came online again, he was a bit bewildered too. He had indeed issued such a document, but his original intention was merely to tell everyone not to speak crudely or say unpleasant things, just to show the happiness they have now. That was all. He hadn’t said they needed to take it to this extent.
Then he also saw large-scale collective cleaning activities. One by one, they were full of energy, as if they were going to clean the entire area spotless and even make it shine. There was not a scrap of trash anywhere, and even the factories had started a big cleaning mode.
He Fang was shocked that the NPCs in “Ruins Without Restart” had spontaneously grasped the meaning of ‘superficialism’.
But since everyone was so enthusiastic, he had no reason to stop them. Anyway, once everything is tidied up and looks good, it’s pleasing to his eyes too.
As for holding a military parade, it was Yuan Zhiran’s suggestion. He said that rather than letting them rack their brains in all sorts of ways, it would be better to directly use real military force to show them the difference. This way, there would be an even greater psychological deterrent. As long as there was enough deterrence, there was no need to worry that they wouldn’t feel afraid.
When He Fang thought about the military parade, he thought he might as well give it a try. Up to now, he hadn’t seen the actual state of his own city either. By holding a big military parade, he could also see how the city’s overall development was going.
Moreover, if possible, they could develop things like sports games in the future too. Maybe that would be a good idea as well.
The entire army already had the military regulations that an army should have. He Fang had seen them—neat and uniform, completely orderly, very much in line with Yuan Zhiran’s personality. Back then, when he chose Yuan Zhiran, he had indeed replicated the image of a real-life army.
This time’s military parade will not only have the main city’s army participating, but even the border troops and the city troops will take part as well. Although they can’t compare to the main city, it seems they also want to show themselves in front of He Fang.
The reception was not arranged to be held in Hope City but instead was chosen to be in Angel City. Angel City’s renovation progressed very quickly because its original structure was already quite complete.
Because Angel City has a great many entertainment projects, it’s more suitable for relaxation. Compared to Hope City’s relatively conservative design style, Angel City has pushed its romance to the limit. Plus, back then, the main city’s NPCs had forcibly carved out places for themselves inside it, and the main city’s NPCs were evenly distributed among them, too. If anything were to happen, the main city’s NPCs would respond a bit faster than Angel City’s NPCs.
This whole matter was completely handed over to Angel City’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to handle. He Fang felt that compared to the main city’s NPCs, Angel City’s NPCs seemed more skilled in this area. Angel City itself is very good at receiving guests. This time, it’s only that the guests have been replaced with foreign visitors.
Yuan Sanjin, after accepting the mission, was full of boldness and ambition. She immediately began direct contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm how many people would come and what positions they each held. She also confirmed with Guo Miaofeng which city should have higher priority. Within Angel City, she requisitioned a batch of places that hadn’t been fully occupied yet to be used for receiving foreign guests. Among them, all the internal facilities were arranged in an orderly and carefully designed way, trying to make every part as perfect as possible.
He Fang only saw his NPCs, one after another, hurrying around the map without stopping. On the statistics panel, he saw that the growth rate of the residents’ happiness level was increasing. He very much suspected: could it be that everyone was so happy because they were all excited to show off to others?
He Fang never worried that people wouldn’t come. After all, this counted as Hope City’s first public appearance to the outside world. It was like a world-class press conference. Hope City was going to fully step onto the stage of the apocalypse.
And this time, He Fang not only invited the top leaders of all the major cities but even included the leaders of all the cities that had always been under Ao City’s rule. Since he was going to show off, he might as well show off together. No, to let them understand together, and also let those mobile cities under Ao City see clearly what kind of people they were relying on.
Amidst this grand and vigorous preparation, finally, the first foreign guest arrived.
He Fang did not personally go to greet them. The ones coming definitely weren’t city lords. He, as a city lord, should put on an air of authority. But he was simply too curious, so he just went straight to the city’s monitoring room to hang around with the monitoring staff and watch the surveillance. He wanted to see what his own city’s people looked like when facing foreign guests.
Lately, the border soldiers had all changed into neat military uniforms, looking valiant and spirited. What He Fang noticed even more was that the small bellies these people had deliberately cultivated all this time had disappeared. He Fang blinked in puzzlement.
“Small bellies?” the monitoring staff said to He Fang. “Oh, they still have them. They still had them yesterday. Right now, they’re probably just holding them in. Even they must feel that the physique of the city’s soldiers would make people like them more.”
He Fang nodded thoughtfully, then lowered his head and pinched his small belly—soft and squishy, honestly not very attractive. He was just a typical homebody’s body type. If not for being malnourished when he was young, which made his body weak, he might have ended up an outright fat shut-in.
But once he thought of abs, an image of the delivery man’s body involuntarily popped up in He Fang’s mind. That delivery man really didn’t know the meaning of being shy—talkative or not, he’d just take his clothes off right away. But the delivery man’s figure was good—practically golden proportions. Whether it was the muscle lines or the long arms and legs, every bit of flesh was beautifully shaped. Even though He Fang had never deliberately appreciated the delivery man’s body, he still had a very clear impression of just how good-looking the other person was.
The visitors were undergoing inspection. Because it was obvious that they had come to “spy on enemy information”, they hadn’t been strapped with a lie detector. If they did that now, it would be too awkward.
“Huh? That’s Ye Sheng. Isn’t Ye Sheng on Hope City’s border defense? Why did he run over to Angel City’s border defense?” He Fang was a bit puzzled. Did he ask to be transferred over himself, or did Wei Qixuan transfer him?
But in the surveillance, he saw Wei Qixuan.
After all, the surveillance in “Ruins Without Restart” apocalypse was worlds apart from those blurry and unreal surveillance feeds in real life. It displayed every little detail.
Wei Qixuan was wearing a small black suit. His slender and tall body carried the unique youthfulness of a young man. His hair was also very maturely combed, neat, and without a single stray strand. He looked extremely solemn. By his side, Shen Houyun carried the same bearing, and behind Wei Qixuan, He Fang discovered that it wasn’t just these few people. There were many!
Everyone who went to receive the guests was dressed in full spirit, all in perfectly standard suits and leather shoes. The women’s elegant small suits showcased their perfect figures exquisitely, their long hair tied up without a hint of messiness, revealing beautiful and refined faces. These looks were definitely carefully chosen, good-looking people arranged to receive the foreign guests. He Fang was even suspicious. Was this a full lineup of main city NPCs brought in to fill the scene?
Suits and leather shoes were a unique style of attire in He Fang’s city, modeled after settings from the real world. But now it was already the apocalypse. In other cities, formal wear was not suits. Then, He Fang saw a completely different sense of dignity.
“Wow, they look so impressive. Speaking of which, I remember they even prepared clothes for me, too?” He Fang murmured. Back then, he had even been specifically brought in to have his body measured. He didn’t know what his formal outfit looked like.
But city high levels were still city high levels in the end. He Fang used to like seeing people who had just arrived in their city showing very joyful expressions, but with these people, from beginning to end, He Fang couldn’t see any major change in their expressions. It was just that their eyes, when observing the surroundings, would sweep around more than ordinary people’s.
Everyone looked very calm, following behind the guides in an orderly manner, seeming to have very little curiosity about the surroundings.
He Fang had thought about this situation too. After all, his city was built according to cities from the peaceful era before the apocalypse. Strictly speaking, it was really “retro”. If modern people saw ancient buildings, they might find them interesting but not exactly novel. To speak truthfully, He Fang felt that the mobile cities were actually the greatest invention in this world.
Besides, those who would come here and be amazed, who were they? Ragged clothes, covered in dust, penniless, and extremely destitute—so when they saw such a city, it was only natural they’d be moved to tears. But in reality, if it was the upper levels of the mobile cities, the life they lived probably wouldn’t be worse than living in his city, right?
Thinking back to the taste of food inside Angel City back then, it was quite commendable. Those who could still enjoy these things in the apocalypse wouldn’t be too shocked when they came to Angel City.
“Not watching anymore.” He Fang walked out of the monitoring room, feeling a bit disappointed. He had thought he’d be able to see their exaggerated expressions, but clearly, he’d been overthinking it himself.
City Lord He Fang left, and the monitoring operator felt a bit of regret as they returned to their seat. The warmth of the Creator’s body was still left there. For some reason, the operator’s face flushed red.
So many surveillance feeds, yet only one person was enough to see through it all. Countless screens reflected in the monitoring operator’s eyes, yet not a single detail was missed.
“This newcomer… is Shi Canghai from the Library?” The operator raised their eyebrows slightly. “Isn’t that the one who asked the Creator for help? Looks so young. Has he even reached adulthood? His eyes don’t look very friendly… Mm, keep an eye on him, mark him.”
Shi Canghai was received by Yuan Sanjin. In Shi Canghai’s eyes, Yuan Sanjin was a somewhat ordinary-looking woman, said to be Angel City’s deputy city lord. But according to the information he had, Yuan Sanjin should be the granddaughter of Angel City’s former city lord, which meant she was very likely Angel City’s true city lord herself.
Why Angel City suddenly submitted to Hope City back then is still a mystery to this day. Everyone leaned toward believing that both Angel City and Arrival City had been forcibly seized by Hope City. At that time, as a large city, Angel City surely had its own pride. At least Shi Canghai thought he would see a Yuan Sanjin who was secretly unwilling to yield.
But…
“I’ve heard so much about you. I never thought I’d actually have the chance to meet the successor of what was once the famous Romantic City, Angel City. I just didn’t expect that now you’d have become the deputy city lord.” Shi Canghai said with a smile, his tone very calm, neither flattery nor mockery.
“Yes, the reason I can still sit in the deputy city lord’s position now is all thanks to the city lord’s care. I’m very happy that I can still contribute my own strength to the Angel City I love the most.” As she spoke, Yuan Sanjin extended her hand, and several vehicles slowly pulled up in front of them. “Please, get in.”
Shi Canghai sized up the vehicle. This could no longer be called just a car, but rather a small aircraft. It was extremely stable, without the slightest jolt or sway. With their current technology, this level of stability was not beyond reach; it was just that they didn’t have enough resources to support it. Yet now, it was casually being used in an everyday vehicle. Was it because they truly had resources to spare, or was it just for show?
“Your city’s agricultural development is impressive.” Sitting in the vehicle, Shi Canghai looked out the window at the crops and said with a smile.
“All the crops planted here are improved varieties, with yields increased by two hundred percent. Right now, our food supply is more than abundant, so its market value isn’t high. I believe with your means, you could easily taste every high-grade food Angel City has to offer. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the food here in Angel City.” Yuan Sanjin smiled too. Beneath the little suit she wore, her figure was gradually revealing the distinctive charm of a woman. She seemed to have deliberately made some small adjustments to her clothes, making herself look even more beautiful.
“If we had seeds like these, our city would very much hope for a chance to trade with Angel City. It might greatly improve our current survival problems,” Shi Canghai said.
However, Yuan Sanjin turned back and glanced at Shi Canghai. That look was calm and indifferent as if probing for something. Only after that did Yuan Sanjin’s voice come: “Of course. In the future, if your city becomes one of our alliance cities, then everything we have, your city can have too. And you’d also receive the protection of a mech. As far as I know, your city doesn’t have any mechs yet, right?”
This sentence from Yuan Sanjin clearly shows she knew about the Library’s plea for help. Although there were only their own people in the vehicle now, Shi Canghai couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat. In that instant, he seemed to understand the meaning behind Yuan Sanjin’s earlier glance. She had been testing whether he truly had the intention to side with Hope City.
Shi Canghai found it hard to believe. All along, they had thought Angel City had been forced to become an alliance city of Hope City, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.
“Our city indeed doesn’t have any mechs, but if becoming an alliance city means we could have a mech, wouldn’t that be a bit too good to be true? As far as I know, right now Mirage only has three mechs. Could there be more?” Shi Canghai probed, trying to get more information.
In fact, cities possessing three mechs were not uncommon, though not many either. Ao City, for example, had three mechs, yet in the face of Mirage’s mechs, they seemed utterly powerless. To have such powerful mechs, even one was enough to make people tremble. Could there be more?
“Yes, the main city… which you call Mirage… has a total of seven of those powerful mechs, up until now.”
Yuan Sanjin’s words instantly shocked Shi Canghai. Seven mechs, mechs that powerful?
“If you become an alliance city, you can apply to the main city for mech usage rights. Our mech, Rainbow Squad’s Xiao Lu, is an absolutely perfect dragon-type mech, angelic and unmatched in power and beauty. It’s the pride of Angel City.” As she spoke, Yuan Sanjin used the terminal in her hand to show the footage of Xiao Lu when it fought against Ao City. Ao City’s pride, the mech Penglai, had stood no chance at all under Xiao Lu’s control.
Looking at that footage, which had never been made public, Shi Canghai felt deeply shaken. Such overwhelming power left him with almost no thought of resistance.
“Of course, I very much look forward to seeing what kind of magnificent and beautiful mech the Library will receive once it becomes an alliance city. After all, you can bring important knowledge and fresh blood to Hope City. I’m sure City Lord He Fang will grant you all the benefits you deserve.”
Yuan Sanjin’s voice drifted into Shi Canghai’s ear like a temptation, a devil’s whisper luring him into the abyss.
